Sawtry Infants' School

Overview

Sawtry Infants’ School is described as a place where pupils receive a "warm welcome" and feel "happy and safe." Leaders have built a "strong, collaborative school community" with parents, resulting in improved attendance and a positive learning environment where pupils demonstrate "polite and resilient behaviour."

Strengths

• Pupils "read confidently" supported by daily access to high-quality books and a "well-stocked library."
• Recent changes to the phonics programme have brought about "rapid improvements" in early reading outcomes.
• The curriculum is "well thought through and structured," with staff having a clear understanding of the concepts pupils should learn.
• The school identifies and meets the needs of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) "well," following recent training.
• Personal development is supported by a "well-planned" programme, including events like ‘International week’ to broaden cultural awareness.

Areas to improve

• In the early years, the approach to writing "lacks enough opportunities for children to connect their phonics knowledge to their writing," affecting confidence.
• Checks on whether pupils with SEND are meeting their individualised targets are "not precise enough," causing their work to not always align with set goals.
• In a few foundation subjects, systems to check what pupils know are being "finetuned" to better inform teaching.

Safeguarding

The report states that "the arrangements for safeguarding are effective."